WHEATLAND, N.D. – A big opportunity has been unveiled for Wheatland’s Grand Farm.
Senator John Hoeven announced today that Grand Farm will serve as the National Program Manager for the USDA’s National Proving Grounds Network for AgTech (NPG-Ag).
The new initiative will test and validate new and emerging precision agriculture technologies under real farming conditions.
“It’s really focused on solving challenges in agriculture through technology and innovation,” Grand Farm co-founder Brian Carroll said. “And that really needs to be tested, validated and proven in the real world.”
NPG-Ag builds upon the Grand Farm-North Dakota State University (NDSU)-ARS cooperative agreement that Hoeven previously worked to establish and fund.
“With Grand Farm serving as both the National Program Manager and the first proving ground for this USDA initiative, North Dakota’s technology ecosystem is front and center in efforts across the country to develop the next generation of precision ag technology,” said Senator Hoeven. “The cooperative agreement we established between Grand Farm, NDSU and ARS served as the genesis for the USDA National Proving Grounds for AgTech. When we provided an additional $2 million to establish an ARS work site at Grand Farm, USDA saw this as an opportunity to create a national network of businesses and land grant institutions, with Grand Farm managing the program. What this means for farmers – new technologies will be tested and proven to work in real-world conditions, giving our producers certainty when they invest in the future of their operations.”
Grand Farm and the Agriculture Research Service has been working on this project for three years, Carroll said.
“This is a relationship that Senator Hoeven has really helped established,” he said. “We’ve been working with them (ARS) and NDSU on projects, project management, technology adoption.”
